Giants agree to terms with 1B Aubrey Huff on one-year contract

With Adam LaRoche still seeking a $10 million AAV contract, the Giants turned in another direction to add a left-handed home run hitter.

They’ve agreed to terms with first baseman/DH Aubrey Huff on a one-year, $3 million contract, pending a physical that is scheduled for later in the week, a source confirmed to me this evening. The agreement was first reported by the local CBS affiliate.

Huff is not the crown jewel of this free-agent class. He’s more of a lab-created diamonique. But he’s a proven run producer who has three 100-RBI seasons in his career, the last one coming in 2008 with the Baltimore Orioles. (For some of you, RBIs might as well be something shiny that they peddle on the Home Shopping Network. For others, hey, operators are standing by!)

When I’ve asked club officials about Huff in the past. they shook their heads, pointed to his suspect defense and said it wouldn’t play in the NL. Well, last time I checked, the Giants have only six games in AL parks next year. So I’ll assume Huff will bring his first baseman’s mitt to Scottsdale next month.

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Basically, Huff, 33, was a fit this offseason because he offered run-producing potential at a price within the Giants’ self-restricted means. My sense all along this winter was that Bill Neukom issued a stern warning to Brian Sabean to avoid any Edgar Renteria reduxes. You can take the Voyager to the grocery store, but you best not forget the coupon book, son. No filet prices for cube steak.

So LaRoche picked the wrong winter to play hardball with the Giants. I’m not sure what to make of his reported rejection of a two-year, $17 million contract except that he had absolutely no desire to play in San Francisco (despite very solid numbers in an admittedly small career sample size at AT&T Park). Whatever the reason, LaRoche is pretty much left with the Orioles now. Best of luck there, guy.

On to more practical matters. How do the Giants plan to use Huff? Well, he’s expected to play against most right-handed starters (his .842 career OPS vs. RHPs is 100 points higher than against LHPs). Mark DeRosa could form the right-handed portion of a platoon at first base, leaving Pablo Sandoval to play third every day. Or Manager Bruce Bochy could play Sandoval at first against lefties and third base the rest of the time. Under that scenario, Juan Uribe could get more starts at third base. It would seem Uribe has the most playing time to lose, though.

And while I don’t believe the Twitterings about Sandoval moving behind the plate, it would be a way to get Huff, DeRosa and Uribe in the lineup at the same time.

Obviously, there’s a lot the Giants must figure out. And it wouldn’t be wise to expect all the answers to shake out on Tuesday or Wednesday, when the Huff signing should be officialized. It’ll probably be deep into the Cactus League schedule before the Giants begin to understand how these pieces might fit.

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has witnessed and documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This will be his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants. A second title, Giant Splash, is due to be published by Triumph Books in April 2015.
Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

Another way to get Panda, DeRosa, Uribe, and Huff into the game at the same time would be to sit Edgar. Seems like the best way to put the strongest lineup out there….

Dub17

Until Seabean is gone, or we get a new owner, I am done. I am not going to spend my money on team that isn’t going to try and make the team better. Derosa and Huff will be just like Rentira. Old washed up players. These would have been good movies back when we had Bonds and Kent but now they are just stupid. I bet we will lead the majors in loses by 1 run. Way to go giants.

There in no debating that the Giants will be better offensively next year. A full year of Sanchez, add DeRosa and Huff to the mix–not too shabby. The Giants are not going to be an offensive juggernaut, but they need need to be! Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Sanchez and Bumgarner are the question and the answer.

pabloismyjesus

Lets trade for Carl Crawford!

UglyFinder

I wonder…Will Ishikawa get any playing time? We’ll see. If he repeats what he did in ’08, then this signing is incredible.

SabeanMustGo

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!! We have a LH IB in Travis Ishikawa who makes $500,000 that is 6 years younger, hit 20 points higher last year with a better OBP, and plays gold glove defense…….

And Sabean’s dumb ass goes out and spends $3M on AUBREY HUFF???? I am embarrassed to be a Giants fan. One offseason goal: Improve a dismal offense. And he adds a complimentary piece in DeRosa for $6M and a one year wonder in Aubrey Huff who has stones for hands over at first when we have a 26 year old version of Huff rotting on our bench for $5M cheaper that plays better defense. In no way am I promoting the idea of Ishi at 1B, but it’d make more sense than Huff. Should have saved our money. We still need a catcher and a 5th starter. maybe Sabean can sign Benito Santiago and Livan Hernandez. One can only hope.

J.M.

If the question is “how do we get Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff into the lineup at the same time?” then maybe someone is asking the wrong question.

More important questions: Where is the Giants’ second best hitter, Fred Lewis, in all this? Why is Renteria guaranteed a starting SS gig coming off two straight terrible years? And: Why was Ryan Garko, likely to earn less money, not tendered a contract, when the alternative was Aubrey F’n Huff?

Brian Sabean set out to improve the offense, and he came back with two beans. Not even of the magic variety.

Jonathan

Must every single little transaction be seen as a failure?

One year at $3 Million. That’s a good deal. He can put up the same numbers as ’09 and it’d still be a decent deal. Plus, it could make DeRosa more of a regular outfielder that can also cover infield, which everyone agrees would be the smart move.

And we’ve tried Ishikawa. He may have a glove, but the bat just isn’t there. At least not at Mays Field, and that’s where it matters anyway.

Besides, while they would never admit it, it could possibly turn up the heat on Renteria to produce, or be cast off during the season. And is that a bad thing?

Does it hurt to acknowledge that the Giants, at least on paper right now, look better than last year? Then again, apologies for not signing Holliday or Bay to contracts that the Cards and Mets will live to regret. We already have 2 of them as it is, and we don’t need any more. And LaRoche would have made it 3.

Jimmy J

If this group can learn to work opposing pitchers JUST A LITTLE – something last year’s team seemed completely uninterested in – they’ll be plenty good enough behind the Giants’ stellar pitchers. I like the idea of Huff, DeRosa, and a healthy Freddy surrounding the Panda & Uribe.

4 runs a game. That’s all we need.

TM

For one year at 3 million, this is a good signing. Huff’s 85 RBIs last year would have put him at second only to Panda on this team.

If Renteria stinks up the joint in Spring Training, Uribe should be the full time SS. I’m not saying that he necessarily deserves another chance, but with the kind of money he’s being paid we should at least see what he has to offer in 2010.

Brian

Things could be worse. I don’t think Huff is terrible. I’m just not so sure he’s that much better than Garko would have been. Plus, let’s be honest. Sabean has to have his Durham/Aurillia/Name Another Old Guy fix and here we have it. He signs based on that player’s best year ever and puts on his surprised face when the guy puts up numbers below his career average.

prima facie

Another way to look at this: You’d rather roll with Fred Lewis, Travis Ishikawa and Emmanuel Burriss?

Oh, yeah, been there and one that.

UglyFinder

@12

Well said. Although it’s a little early to call it quits on Travis, this signing will still be pretty good. When you look at the grand picture, F-Sanch for the whole year in place of Burriss/Frandsen/Downs is an obvious upgrade. Edgar Rent., despite the haters, will likely at least improve on the season he had (hopefully). Bengie’s lack of speed that clogs up the bases will be gone (although his bat is missed). And we’ll have more than 2 HRs from our right fielder (the incredible defense Randy played will likely not be present). So I’m guessing we’ll be fine. Another Cy Young season from Tim Lincecum would help, but maybe that’s too much to ask for…

The Leftovers from Tom Cables’ Lunchbox

Aubrey Huff in Spanish translates as “El Stinko”.

.241 and 15 homers last year?

Can’t we get that kind of production from Travis Ishikawa but with better defense?

Jay Draeger

Can we please ban all future responses that talk about the “Great Travis Ishikawa and Fred Lewis”? Anyone who defends either of these two players as having any potential clearly do not know what they are talking about when it comes to talent evaluations.

J.M.

Much rather roll with Fred Lewis than Aubrey Huff. Ishikawa was better on offense last year, and will always be better on defense. Huff has had one good year out of the last 5. Fangraphs has Huff’s value last year at -$5.1 million. Yes, Huff should have paid his teams over 5 million for the privilege of soaking up innings. This contract is senseless and takes AB’s away from better players.

Anyone who tries to use Huff’s RBI’s as a metric to gauge his talent or future production can… enjoy him next year. I can’t see any reason to believe he’ll be any good.

hibcbcbc

Lets call Sabes “the man without a plan”, because he just doesn’t have one.

Lets hope all these hyped up minor league hitters are the real deal (in a non Freddy Lewis/Ishikawa kinda way) and that they are on the fast track to the bigs (and ideally are being taught, like, a hitting approach of some kind)

Ugh.

Is Neukom telling him he’s doing a bang up job?

I’m just curious what the feedback is at Willy Mays Plaza…

BDub

This just CAN’T be the final piece…can it?

Greg

Ridiculous. What does that make … 9 first basemen in camp. That’s first base … as in, the easiest position to fill in baseball. It doesn’t even take a ballplayer (and yes, I know they CAN be athletic, but they sure as heck don’t have to be … and Huff isn’t).

Just ridiculous.

drawindead

A nutless monkey could do the job that “sabes” is doin

drawindead

wow, huff, de rosa….where do i sign up for my season tickets

drawindead

I’ll continue following the giants on tv till the “sabes” and co. put a worthy product on the field

drawindead

Giants rode the bonds mule for as long and hard as they could without spending additional funds and they seem determined to do the same with Lincecum/Cain.

Sabean has to be expecting Huff to rebound in SF. We all know how well most LH hitters( not named Bonds) hit in SF. This basically DFA’s Ishikawa by the end of spring training.

drawindead

how many 2-3 million/year free-agents does it take to field a mediocre team? Giants are determined to find out…

drawindead

Huff will make Giants fans long for Garko…..

Junior_Giant

Lets face facts,there are no free agents that are going to make a big difference this year. And when your the Giants and all you have is pitching teams know this and will get your best pitching prospects for a mediocre bat.This is not a great signing but its not a bad signing either.A 1 year deal is golden these days.Lets hope the guy pans out.Bay and Holiday are the same type of signing that Rowand was 3yrs ago.It was a very thin free agent market.Glad they are not committing to mediocre players.Had they made a big splash this offseason it would have been Zito all over again.

DProfessor

Bravo! No more Two-headed Monster!

http://www.fansvscohan.com Wander7

I can’t believe people still want to give Fred Lewis a chance. He stunk up LF so much. I think we need to move on from him…

As for Ishi, the only thing he showed me last year was his consistent strikeouts. He does have a good glove though, therefore since according to people above that first base is the easiest spot to fill, losing Ishi won’t be a big deal?

Did you even watch any Giants games last year? You said “And we’ve tried Ishikawa. He may have a glove, but the bat just isn’t there. At least not at Mays Field, and that’s where it matters anyway.”

Ummm, Ishikawa, batted .349 at home and .162 on the road. Thanks for playing…and by the way, I think Ishikawa stinks and Huff might be marginally better…but saying he can’t hit at home is flat out wrong

drawindead

yes, lets give freddy, ishi, nate another year to develop and “pray” one of them develops into a marginal major league hitter..

Huff the magic Puff

Anyone who even mentions Ishikawa as an option at 1b should be banned from posting here and banned from watching baseball. He has a glove; thats good. We could just go to Home Depot and buy a brick wall for $50. That would have good defense too and it would hit the same as Ishikawa also. If Ishikawa joins the team, he should just get hit by every pitch so he can get his OBP up at least. This guys is a joke.

drawindead

Lincecum should bolt the first chance he has to get out of SF…G-men will never win anything as long as current ownership is in charge…

Ishikawa’s on base percentage .329 league average .333 . He’s no where near as bad as some of the people here are making him. Look at huff or Jt Snow’s rookie years there numbers weren’t any better A .935 OPS at home show’s the potential is there.

Section B, Row 1

I cannot wait until Sabean and Bochy are gone. There is no plan for this team what so ever. It’s like watching the movie Major League, trying to throw a bunch of misfits together. I’d rather have Willie Mays Hayes and Serrano.

drawindead

Did the Huff signing warrant a Comcast SportsNet news alert?……lol

drawindead

LMAO….are the Giants serious?

drawindead

Really…Huff, DeRosa, Sanchez….hmmm

drawindead

Those 3 guys combined might produce the major league hitter the giants actually need

drawindead

Giants are a joke and not to be taken seriously by the rest of the league…thanks Nuekum, Sabean, Bochey…

drawindead

Giants are a joke and not to be taken seriously by the rest of the league…thanks Nuekum, Sabean, Bochey…

If anyone remember Huff from his days as a TB Devil Rays, you would know that he is a STUD. Let’s just hope last year was a fluke and he’s still got plenty left in the tank and just needs a change of scenery.

Just in case, maybe we should re-sign Garko to platoon 1B…just a thought…

GyroFan

So many armchair GMs… so many moronic comments…

I’ll make it simple for the simpletons in the crowd:

Giants + 1 more run a game = Division Title.

I think Sabean has provided pieces (and the off-season is far from finished) to say that this IS a better offense than last year.

…I’m sorry that Giant’s management hasn’t given Sabean a duffle bag filled with $160 million to spend… or that the Cardinals won’t take that Frandsen for Pujols straight up trade you’ve all been working so hard on… but until that happens, you just have to face reality.

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

Hey y’all.

Don’t know what signing Huff has to do with Fred Lewis, but some of you have got to stop the hating.

Fred Lewis didn’t get any love from Bochy last year.

Last time anybody even bothered to give him a shot, and put him in the lineup, he was a solid leadoff hitter and a solid fielder in LF as well. You people who say that starting Fred is “waiting for him to become a good player” or some other such rot should go back and look at how he did in 2008.

I am staying upbeat, as a loyal fan of a mid market ball club; however every year we still dream of the first giant ws win in sf.
I have faith, that this year will get us back in the playoffs & in position to be buyers next yr

Walter Guest

#63
Word is that Lewis told Bochy he didn’t want to hit leadoff.

kar120c

To me, it appears that Sabean is playing for time.

HIs FA signings the past two seasons leave the Giants with (relatively) significant FA money committed to the following players: F. Sanchez (’10 & ’11), Renteria (’10), DeRosa (’10 & ’11), Huff (’10). All in the IF (though DeRosa can play IF and OF). All candidates for July deadline deals. And none with options beyond ’11.

To me, Sabean (possiblily at the behest of Neukom) wants to see T. Neal, R. Kieshnick, B. Crawford, F. Peguero, and (to a lesser degree) B. Pill in one year’s time.

Also, it seems that they have made decisions on F. Lewis, T. Ishikawa, and J. Bowker, and possibly N. Schierholtz – they believe that none of these players has a future with the Giants.

I haven’t seen/heard anybody else talking about this (I am out of the Nor Cal area, though), but I keep wondering why there hasn’t been any discussion of playing Sandoval at catcher and Uribe full time at 3B. If we are paying Renteria, Sanchez, Huff, and DeRosa to play and management isn’t convinced Posey is ready to carry the full time load, then playing Sandoval at the position he played in the minors instead of out of position at 3B/1B seems tio make sense. He worked hard at 3B and played better than expected, but he ist still an athletic catcher playing 3B. I need to look up Uribe’s stats at 3B, but the goal is to get both their bats in the lineup given that SF doesn’t have a DH spot, right?

http://oneflapdown77.blogspot.com CV

it’s a good move as a 1-year deal. f it doesn’t work out travis and his .935 home OPS gets another shot…..
oneflapdown77.blogspot.com

rpuck

low risk move for a guy with MLB proven LH power & adequate OBP.

Consider the savings when LaRoche rejected the 2/17 offer. Their value may not be that far apart come season’s end.

As usual, only time will tell.

@#67 – Yep, sounds about right. Everything is playing towards 2011.

HITMAN

THE GNATS WILL ALWAYS BE THE DODGERS BEECHES. NEED I SAY ANYMORE? HEH,HEH,HEH!!!!!

Mike Sturdivant

I don’t think it’s a great signing, but I don’t think it’s terrible. It’s just safe; and safe won’t win you a championship. I still would like for us to add another OF such as Johnny Gomes or Ryan Church. We can always find a 5th SP off the FA scrape heap.

jerseygiant

I like Huff – when he was an Oriole, he always had big hits against the Yankees.
Hopefully, he can do the same against LA. Excuse me someone, but, I never found out the results back here on the right coast about Timmy’s run-in with the law. What was the final verdict?

The Wisdom Cow

A few have noted that while our offense gets better this year, the defense has taken a big hit. Off the cuff, I thought, “Yeah, we can’t have Timmy win another Cy or he would cost even more.” I really hate the possibility that that is correct.

I wonder what happens to Ishikawa then, he basically only plays 1B though I saw talk about him learning to play OF, it appears they might have given up on him.

However, with Huff’s history of poor defense at 1B, Ishikawa probably will be coming into the game after Huff’s third AB of the game.

Whatever LaRoche’s reasons, he’s going to miss out being with a team that has a chance to do something the next two years. The Orioles has a history of ineptitude that will haunt him, I think.

That’s OK, I think Ishikawa has a better chance of sticking around with Huff around than LaRoche. I still like Ishikawa and think that he’ll get a lot of play this coming season with Huff around.

Keep’n it Real

Maybe this guy can bounce back, but I have been seeing an alarming trend of disappointment with AL hitters coming to the NL…and visa-versa. Matt Holliday with the A’s, Ryan Garko with the Giants, to name a few. I was hoping for Adam LaRoche because he’s only 30…hits 25HR/85RBIs consistently (at PIT and MTL…with no Pablo type hitter), and has had some success in the NL.

I don’t mind the management running this like a business (it’s not my money they’re spending), but this is a $3M R-I-S-K…and RaLoche (even for higher money) would provide you with a consistent return (perhaps even better) on the money *and* it would be for 2 years. We’ll be doing this RISK-shopping next year again.

Oh well…it is what it is, so we’ll see how this works out.

Come In My Posey

Navy Guy I have been preaching the idea of Sandoval playing catcher for quite some time as it creates our best line-up.

Furthermore I like this deal and I also like Sabean’s approach this off season. No long term deals, just stop-gaps until some of the kids are ready.

I agree with double jay. It is what it is. That is your starting day lineup. The only possible addition would be Torrealba..
3 more signings…

Chan Ho Park
Calero
Torrealba (1 year with an option.)

mannyt48

….any chance we can still sign Bengie?

Boch

MMMM MMMM, lineup’s gettin older an sweeter! thanks sabes!

gabaus

Another Ricky Ledee signing by Sabs. Is it too much to ask to get some talent in here for a world series title instead of just trying to be competitive in our junk division.

JoeTheJet

Not sure how you guys figure the D is that much worse next year.

Sanchez is a HUGE improvement over Uribe/Downs/Frandsen/Burriss.
Renteria is healthy so he’ll be able to throw.
Pablo will be in his second year at 3b.
Rowand is the same
Nate showed he’s as good as Winn last year and has a better arm.
True, they aren’t as good at 1b as Ishi, but Huff is as good as Garko, Pablo, and Aurilia.
In LF, Derosa will be as good as Lewis, probably not as much range as Velez, definitely not as good as Torres.

Again, not seeing that HUGE difference in the D except for Ishi.

You guys just can’t be happy. If they didn’t make a move you’d complain, they did make a move you complain, if they’d signed Holliday you’d be complaining about the $. Yeesh, get over yourself.

Jet

cdatzker

The Giants got a steal as I think Audrey Huff will suprize everyone
and hit 30 homers and drive in 100 RBIS. Huff was injurged last year with a hand problem.. Also, We need to address Right-Field as well as Catcher but in this bear market, I’m sure we can pick up a Rick Ankiel or Garret Anderson. I understand as of yesterday that Bengie is not happy with the Mets offer and The Mets will announce that they have signed Yorvit Torrealba. so Bengie could sign for one year and that would make this club even better. I know that Brian Sabean is being told to hold the line on the budget and that’s why Adam LaRoche would never sign to play for the G Men.. LaRoche wants a guaranteed $30 million 2 year contract, The Orioles won’t do that.. The Orioles are holding talks with Ex-Texas Rangers 1st Baseman Hank Bialock on a $3-4 million dollars a year contract.

DProfessor

Anger, man-crushes, and disbelief aside, this is what this off-season adds up to, whether we like it or not:

1) CIMP’s line-up is pretty much what we’ve got except there is no way on earth we are going to burn Pablo at catcher.

2) Enough budget money left for a veteran catcher now that pendejo LaRoche greedily price himself out of the market. Thoughts on whom we can get?

3) The death knell of the two-headed monster (Torres/Velez).

4) No “The Horror” Johnny Damon.

5) No albatross 5+ year contract for +31 year old above average players.

6) Pink slips for:
—Kevin Frandsen
—Travis Ishikawa
—Fred Lewis

7) More whining from Ishikawa (aka “The new Kevin Frandsen”) Lovers.

Resigning Ryan Garko: That would be funny.

DProfessor

Nice work on the news scoops, cdatzker.

Getoverit

To everyone that points out over and over again that the Giants only sign old free-agents, I would like to point out that there are not YOUNG free-agents out there. Players are either under team control, or have been non-tendered because they were not worth keeping under team control. Baseball free-agency is designed to reward veteran players, not young studs. Older players get paid more to do less, because they have service time in the Majors. Think about it… it is not that much different then your own job. New hires make less, people with experience come in at a higher pay grade. These are the guys that are available, it is what you can expect when you are offering one year deals at low money. Do I love the Huff signing….no! But to say over and over again about how the Giants only sign old Free-Agents, look around, players are not young Free-Agents unless their teams expressly released them to be so.

Sabean don’t like players who play hardball with him and he also don’t like waiting too long into January to get his fill at the free agent trough. If LaRoche or his agent was trying to play Sabean, he just learned a lesson regarding how Sabean operates.

prima facie

I must have missed the memo where Aubrey Huff, at not so very ordinary guy or name, is an automatic starter. Or the one where an entire Hall of Fame roster was supposed to built by the third week of October.

You mean the Giants, a team sorely lacking in left-handed bats, mediocre or otherwise, can’t use a relatively cheap left-handed bat?

Guess, with the Twins champing at the bit to make that long-rumored Nate Schierholtz and Jonathan Sanchez for Justin Morneau trade any day, the Giants shouldn’t have bothered.

Berger

I say Sabean is losing me as a fan of his. Let Ishikawa get his chance. We already have DeRosa and Uribe as insurance. We need to trade Ishi so everybody can see what an idiot Sabean is when he goes elsewhere and plays great. It is fairly obvious he won’t be playng here. Idiot Sabean is talking about playing him in RF. Say what? Did anybody tell Sabean the kid can pick it like JT at 1st base. Unbelievable. And to think I was happy when Sabean re-signed. Maybe I’m the idiot for backing Sabean. I thought it would be different under Neukom. Same stupid moves, just less money.

Keep Renteria as a backup shortstop, rather have him come off the bench than Uribe. Uribe’s bat needs to be in the lineup.

koyaanisqatsi

spot on getoverit @91

Berger:

‘Did anybody tell Sabean the kid can pick it like JT at 1st base. ‘ (Ishikawa)

I’d say jury is still out on that one and this case is never going to trial.

Ishikawa scouting report:

‘Don’t throw him a belt high 90mph fastball and you’ll be alright’

BDub

One step closer to the World Series…55 years and counting.

Slamdunk

Where was Neukom BEFORE Sabean gave huge money to Rowand, Renteria, and Roberts? Now it looks like ownership is in penny pinching mode and that does not bode well for keeping Lincecum and Cain and for winning a title soon. Did Neukom institute his beer cup recycling program yet? I wonder if Larry Ellison can afford to buy the Giants and the Warriors?

Expat

Another ‘side dish’ signing. It’s hard to imagine these patchwork of players doing anything but the pitching is so good the offense only needs to be a little better to get the team to the playoffs.

Neukom’s plan:
2010/2011: make it to the playoffs with bargain, stop gap players while the clock runs out on crappy Sabean signings.
2012 and beyond: spend money on real players to join homegrown talent (hopefully) for a serious run at the WS

oh yeah, and no matter what, turn a profit every year.

statman

Todays Boxscore
Dprofessor 0 for 3

VA.Giant

Berger,

You are an idiot for backing Sabes. No offense, of course.

It would be nice if Uribe was the starting SS but it will probably take around 100 games for that to happen, unless an early christmas present arrives and Rent gets hurt again. Sabean/Bochy have to be the only two people in baseball who believe Renteria can turn back the clock to ’07.

I love Pablo and he has worked pretty hard to shape up his D but if he is at 3b that is gonna be one ugly left side of the infield.

I’m okay with the Huff signing. I’d rather see Ishi in a more full time role, and tired of Sabes/Boch writing off players before seeing what they really can do. To anyone that says Lewis/Ishi/Frandsen are not major leaguers, just realize that tho they’ve been given a chance, it was never a consistent one. How can we truly say these guys have been given a chance when they play well one game and sit the next. They must play everyday to truly see what they can do. I want to see full seasons of these guys before we truly write them off. They don’t cost much and by all accounts, play solid defense. Yes, their hitting is suspect, but so long as they sit, they can never truly learn and adapt. Why can’t we just bring a guy up, play him and see what he does over a full 162 game season rather than 10 days here 10 days there, and then back to Fresno, Richmond, or all the way back to San Jose. Where’s Bocock as our SS??

koyaanisqatsi

2nd Half ’09 Aubrey Huff

236 PA: .214 /.284 /.326

Is there any injury that can account for this?

And can anyone back up the claims that his 1B defense would be a detriment?

…Signing looking worse by the minute…

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

einstein

Spoken like a real genius. I bet you even think your username is clever. Tell me when you advance past 2nd-grade playground retorts; then maybe we can actually talk about baseball. Until then, enjoy your retardism.

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

Oh hey guys. LOLOL OMG einstein he so FUNNY

Nobody disputes the point, of course. You know why? Because I’m right. So the jokers will make their little quips and be oh-so-proud of themselves.

Just too cowardly to stand up and argue on the facts. Maybe you’re being smart- you realize that I’ll shit on you if you try to actually formulate a cogent argument.

Or you can go the Come In My Posey route and say that the facts don’t mean anything, because you disagree with them. Then you’ll just look foolish.

Anybody gonna man up?

james

“And while I don’t believe the Twitterings about Sandoval moving behind the plate, it would be a way to get Huff, DeRosa and Uribe in the lineup at the same time.”

Putting renteria on the bench could get huff, derosa, uribe and sandoval in the lineup at the same time. And it’s addition by subtraction, since renteria won’t be hitting any more automatic outs.

lorenzo teed

We need to sign Bengie Molina to pinch run for this guy,this will have to be the slowest team in bb history!

Come In My Posey

Right here clown.

Don’t get too ass hurt, he was only joking.

And what are you right about?

Velez being better than Pods? Oh that’s right you retracted that one.

Lewis doesn’t even want to lead off, and he crys just like you.

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

Oh herro.

Nobody gives a shit about whether Velez is better than Pods. They both suck.

Lewis, he’s better than Pods.

Frankly, I think that leak about Lewis is bullshit, because only a retard would rather sit on a bench rather than starting because he doesn’t like leading off.

But if it’s true, Bochy should just tell him to man up, and Bochy should play his best players instead of listening to them when they whine about their lineup spots.

Either way, the Giants screwed up the leadoff spot real bad.

Sharkalchemy

yup. and with the park and the pitching the Giants should be the fastest team in baseball. Until Sabean is gone, it will always be this way. The ownership will find out the hard way this year that the resigning of coach and GM was a mistake.

They’re in a constant ‘be competitive’ mode with a goal of meaningful games in September and have been either unable or unwilling to make a commitment to youth and let it ride with talent THAT YOU DEVELOP!!!

I think they’ve been unwilling to do that because they are unable to do it. And the cycle continues and even still I see the kool-aid drinkers talk about whatever propsects that will be ready for 2011, and that is Sabean’s master plan for the free agent signings of this year. lol. fools.

Rockies are gonna kick some ass this year. Aint gonna be two teams from West making the playoffs this year either…Dodgers fade begins and the Giants will hover just above .500 if the pitching doesn’t implode from troubled psyche’s for dealing once again with little run support and sloppy defense.

VA.Giant

Why would we want a guy with a .355 career OBP to lead-off..?? That makes too much sense to make sense. He is way too patient and makes way too much contact to bat lead-off.

You need a guy with heart to lead-off, no matter that he can’t get on-base or make contact. Or better yet, a guy with no real baseball skills but a whole lot of speed.

einstein

LOL,,man up? Fred Lewis,Fred Lewis,Fred Lewis,,we thought you finally got over him. And ok Mr Stat Dregarx,,Fred Lewis,,this season he had 295 AB with 20 RBI,thats obscene,,with,,, 1 RBI in 55 AB against lefthanded pitching,,,Lets look at some more stats
1 RBI in 30 AB batting 3rd,,,,,, 1 RBI in 55 AB batting 5th,,,,,,,,,and 1 RBI in 46 AB batting 6th,,lets see ,,hmmm,,lets add this together Dreg,,, 30+ 55+ 46= 131 AB in the 3,5 and 6 hole,,and 3 RBI !!!!! Wow,,and ol Fred is better on offense then defense!
Absorb that,,,,if you like tomorrow we can work on E=mc2

Come In My Posey

No one gives a shit huh?

In other words you were wrong about your statement, and now you don’t care to talk about it.

One guy makes a little joke and you get all bent out of shape.

Relax babe, it’s just talk.

You do however make a good point, we have no one to lead off except the 12 million dollar waste of sperm out in centerfield.

This was the very reason I brought up Pods name.

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

Yes! einstein makes an improvement!

Instead of cracking infantile jokes, he uses facts to back up his argument.

Bravo, bravo. You have now moved to the 4th grade. But we have a road bump. What is this. He is bad at RBI?

Wow. I guess he should just will the hitters in front of him to get on base, shouldn’t he? Small problem- the Giants were the worst team in baseball at OBP (not Lewis, he was actually above average). Oh, and he was batting 5th and 6th. Right behind .280 OBP Molina! And even if Bengie gets on, he’s too slow to go anywhere even if Fred knocks a base hit.

Damn. Maybe you should think about using evidence that actually describes how Fred Lewis did, instead of stuff that tells us all how fat Bengie is.

And if you’re up to it, I can school you on the distortion of mass and length under relativistic conditions.

Come In My Posey

Patient? Makes too much contact?

He had 84 strikeouts last year in 295 at bats.

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

Rowand might be a leadoff hitter in a parallel universe.

Do you know what leadoff hitters are supposed to be good at? Getting on base, and moving around when they’re there.

Fred Lewis has an OBP of .350 in two years of play and an EQBRR (equivalent baserunning runs) of 5.9 in the same period of time.

That’s a leadoff hitter.

Oh, and you know who’s a league leader in EQBRR this year? Rajai Davis. Third, with 8 EQBRR. He also had an OBP of .360 this year.

That’s a leadoff hitter.

Pods? There’d be no need for Sabes to go dumpster diving if he could just see the leadoff talent he had right under his nose.

Irishman5574

Another over the hill Vet, that is Sabs for you, next thing you know he will offer Barry a contract!! What happened to the youth movement and developing the farm??

Come In My Posey

Again Fred doesn’t want to lead off, and his 2009 expectations of 20/20/20 (hr, trips, sb) should let you know that he sees himself as more than just a lead-off guy.

I’m sorry if you think the reports are bullshit, I’d like to think when Bochy pencils Fred in the line-up its bullshit, however its not.

Lewis has an excuse for everything, if anyone should “man up”, its him.

http://nobluezone.blogspot.com dregarx

If the reports are true, then you are right, he should man up.

It doesn’t make it any less of a retarded move for Bochy to keep him on the bench in favor of Velez, though.

Come In My Posey

I would love Sabes to offer Teh Lord a contract.

Best move he’s made in years.

dregarx

Funny, I was just reading on fangraphs…

“Barry Bonds, .261/.410/.478, +16/150, .536 r. You had to know it was coming, right? Not bad for a man who hasn’t played the past two seasons. Perhaps you’d expect better linear weights for a guy with a .410 OBP, but keep in mind that the lwts don’t include intentional walks, which Bonds had a lot of (like Marcel, my system current projects iBBs). Still, there are plenty of teams that could use a +16 hitter at DH. I wonder how permanent that retirement is?”

That would be a better 1B than Aubrey Huff.

Dan

Dude. This is not a bad deal in any way. Huff hit 32 dongs in ’08, and his sample size indicates that ’09 was a fluke.

Plus the guy is a total sleaze. Looks like a big drinker. Check out this picture (it’s like halfway down the article):

Wow. Haha. It’s getting contentious in here! I am not a Fred Lewis fan by ANY stretch of the imagination, however I see where Dregarx is coming from (nice arguments by the way).

Fred Lewis is not great, however his OBP is very good. OBP is one of the most underrated statistics in baseball, and the Giants are downright awful at getting on base. dreg’s point is that Lewis, while not the perfect solution, is better than most are giving him credit for. It seems like a lot of people aren’t really focused on the Giants real issue; getting on base. Many people seem to think that it’s all about RBI’s. If you want to get a better view of a players run producing ability, then you should take a look at the percentage of time a batter knocks in runs when given the opportunity.

As dreg pointed out, Lewis might have bad RBI totals because he wasn’t put in positions to drive in runs. I am no Lewis supporter at all, but if the Giants are going to sign Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa in an attempt to merely remain competitive, then what is the point of signing them at all? If these guys aren’t going to lead the Giants to the World Series (I will save you the suspense; they aren’t), then why not just save the $15 million and play Fred Lewis?

http://www.fansvscohan.com Wander7

The problem I have with Fred is his “turrible” defense in LF. When balls are repeatedly hitting his gloves and then landing on the ground it is hard to watch. I don’t care how many times he gets on base if he just gives the opponents free base passes when righ back when it is their turn.

JT

Turrible. Haha. I love Charles Barkley.

BDub

No way Timmy is going to want to stick around through this mess. He’s gone first chance he gets.

Come In My Posey

JT

I have no problem with Fred leading off.

According to reports its Fred that has a problem with it.

I have a problem with his 20/20/20 attitude, when he shouldn’t be thinking along those lines.

If Lewis kept a level swing and allowed his wheels to work he’d hit .300 and have nearly 50 doubles, and we’d all praise him.

However from everything I have ever read about him tells me he thinks he is Teh Lord v.2.0.

Damon Bruce is the only guy on KNBR who constantly RIPS into Sabean and the Giants. After Derosa was signed, Fitz was saying how improved the Giants offense was?!??! And Radnich only talks about Jay-Z and who is married to which rapper, etc….

Sabean Sucks

Good one Frank. If Huff & Renteria are on the left side, we have two statues. Hit’s for everyone on the opposing team.

dregarx

einstein

BA with RISP is something only Lewis controls. Good, your stats are improving. You’re making strides, you’re at high school level for sure.

Now, you’re familiar with the notion of sample size, right? If not, consider it your final exam to become an upperclassman. The larger the sample size, the more reliable it is for prediction.

They are in order of increasing sample size, and therefore increasing statistical reliability. Lewis wasn’t clutch last year. But in 2008, he was a OK hitter in clutch situations, and in his career, he has been a solid hitter in clutch situations.

Of course, how can you maximize your sample size? Remove the restrictions.

Lewis career: .277/.355/.420 in 1048 PA

You can expect him to hit at the levels of the lines with the higher sample sizes with RISP in the future.

cdatzker

Memo to DProfessor and the other fan base. Aubrey Huff is a good
player and he is going to have a big year. This guy will hit shots in
McCovey Cove. As for the negativity on Neukom and Sabean and
Bochy I agree with some of you about their direction. but the bigg-
-er issue is that The Giants need a new owner who has the big
bucks and maybe we can hope for the owner of Apple Computers or Netscape to put up money for this club. Maybe Mark Cuban wouldn’t be so bad as an owner. that where the problems lie. The Yankees, Red Soxs, Cubs, Mets all have owners willing to commit
big bucks for a championship.

mannyt48

@
cdatzker

..whats up with Bengie and when you getting your own blog

seattle niner

you know..no matter what they do we aren’t going to be happy..for me, since we don’t seem to have a plan in place ( I would prefer go with all youngsters, use speed and defense in that park, but that won’t happen) then this is what I want to see, shake this thing up, bring in some new pieces and see what we get..no way this is worse than watching the product we saw the last couple of years. We still need one more new piece, I still miss Benji with this group, bat him 8th and we are good, not 4th, c’mon. Huff, De Rosa, Sanchez..a nice upgrade over last year’s Burris, Ishikawa, Wynn. So I think we did the best we could to try and win with Timmy and Matt now.

By the way, if Renteria was so hurt last year, why did he play at all? What a poor excuse…That more than anything else really irks me! Replace him and Rowen with anyone and we are better than last year! Go Giants, make one more decent splash and we have a chance!

Sharkalchemy

dregarx,

Lewis did not progress last year and he was given a long time at the beginning of the year to show that he had. Instead, it was evident he regressed, which is the only thing that happens for a player in any sport; you’re progressing or regressing.

Bad loop in a big swing that’s too long and as such has to trigger even quicker to the ball which makes him susceptible to hard breaking balls and any pitch he guesses wrong on. The league has figured him out. Get over it.

DProfessor

cdatzker, Agreed on Huff. I think he’ll be good. Much better than having to watch Ishikawa flailing at breaking pitches at his feet.

bradley

Someone above said ishi did not hit well at Mays field. Not true, his numbers were excellent at Mays field. His road numbers for some reason sucked. Ishi’s fielding saves some runs. Like Garko, Huff’s defense will cost us some runs. I would just have liked to see, at least until the allstar break, for ishi, bowker, Lewis and schierholtz get a chance. Might as well package Bowker, Frandsen, Schierholtz, Torres,
Velez, and Guzman to the pads for Adrian Gonzalez. Because all these guys will not make the team (some will) but signing these midlin players will be blocking our young guys who are starting to age. Reminds me of Rich Aurillia being blocked by an aging Shawon Dunston, or Edgar Martinez being blocked until he was 27, and now this supposed Dud, is a hall of fame candidate who almost made it in on his first try.

Jimbo

Shark bites Dregarx! Ouch!

Greg

Maybe we can summarize the Giants’ moves by saying they are considerably LESS athletic, which could be a real problem in that park. And without any speed in the lineup (they might have a starting lineup that will be challenged to steal 10 bases), it will be difficult again for them to turn a low OBP into decent run totals. Could be a lot of standing around and some poor defense.

nightcrawler

this seems like such a pointless signing in my eyes. Huff is not a NL player and is nowhere near the “versitile” player that the Giants are going to try to spin this. I would have rather gone with a platoon of Ishikawa and Guzman at 1B. Guzman could give us as much “power potential” as Huff could and they likely have the same horrid glove work too.

The best line-up is to sit Renteria and the faster Sabean admits it, the better for us all.

Nothing to be afraid of, but if Huff gets a lot of Fastballs, his HR total should be ok. DeRosa should hit 5th in this order and Uribe would then have the next best power. I am really interested to see Posey hit for the first 2 months. I think he could become the #2 hitter by mid season.

V boy

Sandaval as catcher? It. Will. Not. Happen.

Hubcap Dave

I think the Huff signing is a good one……at $3m. Sure, he had a bad year in ’09, but he’s only 1 year removed from a year more indicative of his career. To me, it seems we have at worst a 20/80 guy, and at best a 30/100 guy. If he falls anywhere between, he’s certainly worth the money paid to him.

wfan1

stop gap moves by Sabean til next year when he will sign vets again. People used to blame Bonds all the time for these kind of moves. Sabean loves vets and older guys but the media carries his water so they blamed Bonds instead. The farm system sucks and can not produce everyday players.

2010

drawnindead
you know nothing about baseball and none of your jokes are funny just really stupid

HITMAN

I LMAO LOOKING AT ALL OF YOU WANNABE GM’S PRETENDING YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BB. STICK WITH YOUR DAY JOBS. THAT IS, IF YOU HAVE ANY! THE GNATS WILL ALWAYS AND I MEAN ALWAYS BE THE DODGERS BEECHES AS LONG AS SABEAN IS AROUND. HEH,HEH,HEH,HEH.

WillD

Hitman ought to go to work if he has a job, which he probably doesn’t. Other than that he should stick to posting on his Socal Doghairs site. Really stupid and annoying. Huff was a better signing than LaRoche, thank gawd he turned the $17 mill down for two years. Watch, LaRooche will end up getting maybe $5-$7 mill for one year. Now we only have Huff for one year and cheaper and we are one year closer to Ishi or Brett Pill.

WillD

Section B Row 1–I agree, it doesn’t seem like the Giants have a very good plan if any. Why would they try to sign a mediocre Laroche for two years at $8.5 per(if the reporting is true)? Don’t they have any confidence in the plan to improve from within?

TheGuru

If Sabean is going to the old guys let’s just go get another. Marcus Thames can play 1st against lefties. He also plays LF. Not very well though. He has some power. In 11 ab’s at AT&T he’s hit 3 hr’s. He has a .541 slg. % the last 3 years against lefties.

I think the organization thinks Pill is the long-term answer at 1st. Hopefully, he has a big year at AAA. Then we’ll see Pill/Ish at 1B in 2011.

Someone wrote “Is it too much to ask to get some talent in here for a world series title instead of just trying to be competitive in our junk division.”

Yeah, I think it is for the current organization. I don’t every get the impression the current org is passionate about winning baseball. I *do* consistently get the impression they are passionate about running a business. It’s entirely different. Running a business means turning a large profit. Their idea of smart business is to get to remain in the playoff hunt long enough to keep cheeks in the seats as long as possible. Pennants don’t really matter — paying customers do.

Enrico Pallazzo

Fuck the projections! We need some career years !!!

JT

I don’t understand how some posters make statements like this:

“Fans will complain no matter what.”

No. Fans will complain when their team has one of the largest US markets, some of the most expensive amenities in MLB, and a payroll on par with the Kansas City Royals.

Fans will complain when their team hasn’t won a World Series in 55 years, hasn’t been to the playoffs in 5 years, and has to listen to management promise year after year that “next year will be the year.” Next year will be a better FA class. Next year our home grown talent will be ready to play at this level. Next year all of our bad contracts, which we signed, will fall off the books!

So yes, we as TRUE fans have every right to question the decisions of management.

Bollocks!

VA.Giant

@ Dan.

That link really puts the Huff signing in a new light… If you watch the video on there it really shows what a marketing bonanza signing Huff will be. He is a family friendly kind of guy. “Come to the ballpark early, Aubrey Huff will paint your teenage daughter!!”

DProfessor

bradley @139: Your trade proposal is preposterous.

Once and for all (teenagers), any trade proposal for A. Gonzalez begins with Buster Posey.

Sharkalchemy

BOLLOCKS!!!

Sharkalchemy

anybody care to project attendance this year? I’d like to think falling revenue’s would slap the bean counters upside the head and figure getting sold out playoff games would be one way to recoup…nah. not holding my breath.

Does anyone have a clue to what kind of approach Huff and Derosa have as hitters…cuz if it’s closer to the patience of Freddie Sanchez, and not like everyone else in the organization, these guys just by their baseball DNA as hitters developed outside the Giants could help.

But if he’s a pull to right-center hitter, and I would think at least his home run power are to those fields, he’s gonna be in for the rude awakening most games at the ol’ yard.

In a way, makes sense. Take the contract rejected by LaRoche and divvy it up between Huff & Dye.

That’s how we roll…

Stu gish

Kar120c & Navy Guy: both of you have great points, and make a lot of sense. If, indeed, our objective is to increase our offensive output, then Navy Guy’s point about starting Pablo behind the plate is right on the money, as it would allow us to then start Uribe at 3B. And, like Kar120c, i also believe Sabean is trying to buy time for the day when our kids down on the farm will be ready to step up and take the reins. (It’s either that, or Sabean is actually as misguided and disorganized as most of us suspect!!!)

Stu gish

We just signed a RHP named Cameron to a minor league contract. He’s 29 y.o.; and I believe his best year was in ’07; while his appearances in 08 & 09 were very limited.

dregarx

Sharkalchemy,

He had a couple of months to show progression. How did he do? Looks like you have a faulty memory, Sharkalchemy.

April: .299/.420/.403
May: .258/.340/.438

You forgot already. He got off to a great start and was our second-best hitter at the time. That’s progression. In June, he had a slump, which all hitters have, even the best, and Bochy sat him down. He got no chance to get back in form and build upon his success.

Looks like you were wrong about him regressing. And as for your justification? It doesn’t mean anything. You can whine all you want about a guy’s swing, but if his the results of his at-bats are good, which they are, you don’t prove anything.

The league has figured him out? You pulled that out of your ass. A league-average hitter isn’t a hitter who has been “figured out”.

I will admit it looks better than opening day of last year. However, Rowand at the leadoff is counter-intuitive for an entire season. His free swinging style in fact is the exact opposite approach a leadoff should have…but hey, I get it that this team has to go unconventional somewhere, so leadoff I guess it is.

Also, can Derosa play right field? I mean a REAL right field! If he’s the RF defense equivalent to Rowand’s CF, I guess I’ll take it. But…if he aint, and you put Dye in left. Ugh…gonna be lots more doubles and trips for the visitors this year and Sabes will be exposed for not building this team around the park better.

Develop speed and defense for outfield (not just toss a Rajai Davis out with the trash). Power RH’s hitters for the corners and catcher. ATHLETICISM for the middle infield. Trade J Sanchez and Bum if you have to get that and bring in solid FA pitchers who would love to come pitch here to round out the rotation and probably be good bang for your buck, at least a lot better than the inverse situation now with trying to bring hitters to a park that makes them twitch.

we’re backasswards now and for the foreseeable future. Here’s hoping some lemonade can be had from the present lemons in the line-up. Go Giants!!!

just a thought.

dregarx

Sharkalchemy

I’ve got some of the info you’ve been asking.
Here are some swinging percentages and contact rates for the Giants last year. Bear with me, transferring this excel spreadsheet might not work.

Freddy Sanchez swings a 50.1% of pitches. So he’s actually a very free swinger, not much of a plate approach at all.
Mark DeRosa swings at 45.9% of pitches, which pretty much makes him the most patient hitter on the team. But he’s not really a patient hitter, per se. He’s average.
Same with Huff. 45.3% of pitches.

Improvements, sure, but they’re baby steps, really.

dregarx

Also, DeRosa’s pretty good at the corner outfield position (10 runs above average per season in his career).

That’s better than any other Giants outfielder (except maybe Schierholtz or Torres, but you have small sample sizes with each of those outfielders).

Come In My Posey

Andre

Fred’s contact rate is nothing to rave about and honestly his lower swing rate might have something to do with him being over-matched. I say this because Ishikawa and Renteria have lower swing rates too.

Most who watch know that Renteria is the very definition of a hack and all three look timid in the box. Subsequently these three players have three of the lowest swing rates.

Thank you for the stats though. I was looking for these earlier.

TheParadox

What is the point of these signings? This is like putting rims on a pinto. Don’t get me wrong the starting pitching is great but the hitting isn’t there. It is so painfully obvious. Panda will get his hits and his dingers but that’s it. If you have men on base and it is not Panda’s turn to hit then it will be much like last year. It will be as exciting as watching paint dry once Panda is done with his at bat. Might as well have saved the money and let Schierholtz, Bowker, Lewis, and Ishikawa take their hacks and grab some pine after they are done swinging and missing. At least it is less expensive. Don’t insult the fans by trying to make it look like you are investing in hitters. Also if you are going to trade your prospects do it for worthwhile everyday players or else don’t do anything. Now batting Aubrey Huff…. ooohh and the starting pitcher starts to tremble and chew his nails. Ridiculous. Oh, oh, oh wait… here comes DeRosa with the game on the line… and the opposing manager starts to opens up the bottle of Rolaids… right. I know there aren’t any worthwhile free agent hitters that Giants can afford. That’s fine, save your money for next year’s free agent pool. In any case if I were Cain or Lincecum can’t wait until I’m a free agent to join the Yankees or Red sox, or Phillies.

VA.Giant

Dregarx,

DeRosa’s outfield numbers might be a little misleading because he has yet to play more than 65 games in the OF during a single season. Altogether he has only played about one full season in RF during his entire 12 year career. The 10 runs above average per season would probably see a bit of drop if he was to play the entire season in RF or the OF. I’m not saying he would be a liability in the OF or Velez like but the 10 runs above averge is probably a rosey outlook. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the OF for a whole season at 35 (if that is the plan) and coming off the wrist surgery.

einstein

Dreg
,,Nope wasn’t me,,

VA.Giant

Before Sabes signed Huff I wonder if there was any discussion at all about signing Russell Branyan.

JT

This will probably draw the ire of some in here, but if I were in charge of the Giants I would package Bumgarner, Sosa, Neal, Noonan, Tanner, and Bowker for Adrian Gonzalez. This is only assuming that Gonzalez would sign an extension. I would pay him what he wants. I don’t think some people realize that Gonzalez is one of the top 5 players in all of Major League Baseball. He is only 27 years old, and he is playing in the worst hitters park in the game. Throw the kitchen sink in for him. Bumgarner and Neal are both incredible PROSPECTS which you would hate to lose. Anyone know the definition of prospect?

“the possibility of future success.”

Prospects are great, but far from a sure thing. Adrian Gonzalez is a proven commodity.

Next year I would sign Carl Crawford. Over pay for him if you have too. The guy is a stud at 28 years old, and will dominate at AT&T park. Would our farm system be weakened for awhile? Yes. However the team would compete for years to come, and with John Barr on board you can expect the Giants to produce a lot better draft classes.

A 3-4-5 of:

Crawford
Sandoval
Gonzalez

With Lincecum, Cain, and Wheeler would compete for WS titles. A creative GM would be working on these kind of scenarios. A dopey GM signs DeRosa and Huff…

Sabean Sucks

You really think if Crawford came out, he wouldn”t end up in Boston, Yankees, Mets, Cubs or Angels. When a stud hitter comes out, we will have NO CHANCE.

JT

Sabean Sucks-

Money talks. I don’t have a problem over spending on players of Crawfords caliber. I have a problem over spending on players of Rowand and Renteria’s caliber!

If the Giants picked up AGon. Retain Lincecum, Cain, and Sandoval. Overpay for Crawford. He would come here.

cdatzker

Hello to all Giants Fans!!! I have news regarding why Adam LaRoche didn’t take the $17 million dollar deal, Giants GM Brian Sabean was supposed to call him back and didn’t return the call. so LaRoche thought the Giants weren’t interested and he said no to the deal.
Now.. According to people I know in baseball The Giants have been talking with both Yorvit Torrealba and Rod Barajas regarding the catching job.. I heard that Jermaine Dye would like to become a Giant but I heard that he is not going to take $1 million and change.
As for other possible deals.. The Giants are looking at Colby Lewis who was a Texas Rangers player and played successfully in Japan.
Also, Chan Ho Park will make a decision between the Dodgers, Giants, Brewers soon.. Bengie is now asking for a 2 year deal to play with The Mets.. The Dodgers are so desperate for pitching that
they are sending a scout to go to Korea to look at 2 Korean starters.

wfan1

JT:

come on, man. Sabean is so spooked now after the Nathan fiasco that he won’t get involved in a big deal anymore. A competent GM would have packaged Alderson, Barnes, Bum and Sanchez and some other pieces for A-Gonzo. it would instantly make the G’s a contender in the west and possibly in the PO but no Sabean is thinking very small these days b/c of the Nathan fiasco. He is scared of another fiasco which could endanger his future employement opportunity.

It sucks to be a G fan….My dad just want to see a parade down Market street but it ain’t gonna happen as long as Sabean is still in charge. He could not win a WS with the best player on planet bar none so there is no hope. Sabean sucks and has been sucking for some time but he works cheap so Newk re-signed them. Between Sabean and Botchy, the G’s saved lots of money. They pocket all the money Bonds generated for them.

bigbullship

Ok – I am annoyed…another off season and more half-a$$ed , budget signings- no real trades or moves to make the Giants serious contenders. I have defended Sabes in the past- but I am done with him- and the sham that is the Giants ownership. The Giants are in the 4th-6th best market in baseball- have a great staduim (yes they paid for it BUT it has paid for its self already)- and HAVE NEVER WON THE WORLD SERIES in SF. All the years with Bonds- and some other great players- and NEVER do they sign the extra starting pitcher they needed or at the end not signing the extra bat. And now with a great young staff- BS for 2 off seasons…just aweful. Look at Seattle- smaller market, depleted roster, not as much to offer from the minors- – and they get a Cy Young winner, some everyday players and are now in the running in the AL. The Giants have shown no imagination, no willingness to take risks but honestly they should trade Bum, Sanchez, Posey WHOEVER to get some players NOW before the can no longer pay for their pitching. I liked the trade for sanchez – would have been nice if he wasn’t hurt- but at least they got an everyday player- and god knows they need everyday players…and they have gotten like..ummmm NONE really this off season. They need a catcher , a 3rd or 1st baseman, and 2 outfielders…and they sign 3 players who are all on the downside of thier careers-2 who were never all that good- and the team looks much the same as last year. And PLEASE DTOP WITH THE SHIERHOLTZ, ISHIKAWA, LEWIS etc conversation- None of those guys are anything more than back-ups on a contender-and that is the real issue isn’t it? Other than their staff the Giants still only have 2 players- year TWO players – that would start for any other team in their divison…ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Seriously it is very sad – I am done with the Giants until they spend the $$ necessary to field a winning team and to compete – and I don’t care that the made some poor signings…look at the Mets- they blew big $$ and are out trying again to make their club better…ENOUGH…get a legit 1,4,5 for the line-up or….go to hell…

JT

Wfan-

It’s a bitch ain’t it!?

brandon

cdatzker,

Please continue to update us when you get new info. thanks

mannyt48

@ cdatzker

Cameron are you a real “reporter” or you just B.S. That LaRoch update is too made up…

Jay

cdatzer’s been pretty accurate before, so I wouldn’t entirely doubt his LaRoche rumor.

Shindigity

the more i look at the huff signing and the rest of the moves i kinda like them. derosa and huff are an upgrade from last year and the length of the contracts do not impede future signings. i think management is just biting time when neal, kishnick, and crawford are ready to come up and assume starting roles.

dregarx

Come In My Posey

It’s an interesting thought. Being right next to Edgar Renteria on a stats list isn’t usually a good thing. But I checked out the league ‘leaders’ in Swing % and I got guys like these: Bobby Abreu, Marco Scutaro, Nick Johnson, Nick Swisher, Chone Figgins, Chase Utley, Joe Mauer, J.D. Drew, Ben Zobrist, Kevin Youkilis, Scott Podsednik

None of these players really strikes me as an over-matched or timid hitter. Interesting that Pods is on the list. I may have to rethink my assessment of him (no joke/sarcasm).

O-Swing is for pitches Out of the zone, Z-Swing is for pitches in the Zone. This is better because overall low Swing% can mean timidity but low O-Swing% is always good.

If you look at it Lewis is way lower than everybody else at pitches out of the zone, but close to the rest of the pack on pitches in the zone. Renteria had the smallest % on pitches in the zone, which makes him look timid. Ishikawa actually swung at more pitches in the zone than Rowand or Velez.

Winn jumps to third when we use O-Swing, which is an indication that it shows quality hitting/approach. Winn is a quality hitter.

I think the evidence supports the idea that Lewis is extremely good at taking pitches out of the zone (this is pretty much the only similarity between him and that other LF we used to have), and that Edgar is the timid one.

Hopefully it’s easy to look at. If not, sorry. It’s a leaderboard of O-Swing% scores, should provide some context to the Giants’ numbers.

Come In My Posey

Andre

That’s a much better breakdown, and it helps to throw the league leaders in there.

Now if he would just level out his swing with runners on and we might have ourselves a ball player. .

http://none nomoreBS

As long as they get 30,000 butts in the seats we will get crap.

Mike Sturdivant

I like give Sabean as much crap as the next guy, but with the addition of Bengie Molina we really have improved our batting order from 2009. I appreciate great defense, but this team needs to score some runs. If we get solid starting pitching and three-four runs a night then we’ll be a very good team.

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